SAMNET

Category: National Mosque Open Day

  • Heritage day 2020

    WELCOME TO SAMNET NATIONAL MOSQUE OPEN DAY 2020

    HERITAGE DAY WAS QUITE EVENTFUL AND THIS IS WHY

    The world has never been an ideal world, and the Covid 19 pandemic has exposed the flaws in society and intolerance of certain religions/cultures. Recently, we have witnessed and endured a rise in Islamophobia and hate speech against the Muslim community, as a result of the Call to Prayer ban in South Africa. With all these trials and tribulations that have befallen the Muslims, the National Mosque Open day could not have come at a better time. It is vital to have campaigns such as National mosque open day to dispel the misconceptions and disprove the false perceptions spread about the peaceful religion of Islam in mainstream media.

    The South African Muslim Network expresses gratitude to all those who participated in the National Mosque Open day campaign on Heritage day, 24 September 2020.

    Notwithstanding Covid 19 related impediments, 9 Mosques across 5 provinces participated in the Heritage Day Mosque Open Day Campaign. Alhamdulillah (All Praise due to the Almighty) with over 100 non-muslim people of the various communities who attended the programmes at the Mosques Open on this day.

    There were a number of people who were so moved by what they learnt that they embraced Islam and we wish them well on their new journey through life as a Muslim.

    We would like to commend members from the Mosques involved for their time and effort to accommodate the community and ensure the social distancing and covid safety procedures were adhered to.

    Sirajudeen Mosque

    The Brixton team had an eventful day at the Sirajudeen Masjid in Johannesburg. On Heritage day, they concurrently engaged in mosque tours and Islamic propagation via street dawah, the erection of a dawah table outside the masjid and a presentation on Islam inside the mosque.

    Overall, the day was a productive one and the new muslims were encouraged to enroll for Madrassah classes at the Masjid. A brother volunteered to buy Islamic attire for all the women who became Muslim. Allah (God is most Gracious)

    Masjid AbuBakr Siddique

    Masjid AbuBakr Siddique in Erasmia hosted Interfaith Mosque tours as part of Heritage Day events on Thursday 24th as well as Saturday 19 September. Interfaith dialogues promote love and understanding within our communities.

    “It will be wonderful if we can host other faith groups in our community,” said one of the organisers. Please contact Imam Saleem if any of your organisations (e.g. schools, work, and community) would be interested in a mosque tour.

    Contact 012 370 1069

     

    Jummah Masjid

    People of all faiths came from various areas surrounding Durban, Kw-Mashu, Inanda and Durban Central to attend the Heritage Day programme at Jummah masjid. A new Muslim sister Ayushi Devraj shared her experience and journey to Islam and her mum, who is still a Hindu attended as well. The programme was well received by the recipients.  A short talk and street activity was carried out at the IPCI Telecoms with interaction from the general public.

    A programme was held at the IPCI Chatsworth Dawah office for ladies only and was well received by the Community.

    “We need more participation of mosques in Chatsworth, Insha Allah next year the campaign should focus on these areas”
    ~ IPCI

    Soofie Mosque

    The Soofie Mosque, which is a national monument in Ladysmith, had a very successful day hosting 14 attendees and a young female reverted to Islam. Alhamdullilah

    As Salaam Masjid

    The uMzinto Mosque had up to 30 non-muslim attendees. A tour of the Mosque, demo of Prayer and ablution as well as a Q&A session took place following Covid safety procedures.

    Masjid-ur-Rahman

    Programmes were conducted over 3 sessions with different groups of people of various faiths.

    Imam Nawawi Mosque

    Imam Nawawi Mosque had a lovely programme for members that visited the Mosque on Heritage day.

    Mshadza Masjid

    The programme took place successfully despite challenging circumstances in the Nelspruit area accommodating 11 people who visited the Mosque on Heritage Day.

    Musallah on Musgrave

    The Musallah is the forerunner in establishing the Berea Interfaith Forum which comprises of three churches and the Musallah in Musgrave. The community is excited about the opening of the new Mosque on St Thomas to replace the Musallah and duas are requested for the success of this project.

    We are grateful to the Almighty for granting all those participating success and we pray Allah blesses them for their time and effort invested into National Mosque Open Day. We look forward to National Mosque Open Day 2021.

  • Religious Intolerance – Banning the Call to prayer

    23 August 2020

    The “AZAAN Judgement”

    The South African Muslim Network notes the poor judgement handed down in the case related to the stopping of the Azaan in Isipingo. We have unambiguously expressed the disappointment of our community with the poor judgment in various mainstream media interviews and the fact that it needs to be and will be appealed right to the Constitutional court if necessary.

    While we are all appalled by this decision and the Islamophobic nature of the applicants’ mentality, we should not be responding, whether on social media or against other faith groups, in a way that is not befitting our Islamic teachings or the example of our Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him).
    Our experience over the past five years of managing the Mosque Open days which serve the purposes of addressing the misconceptions and ignorance about our religion, has shown us that education and dialogue in a friendly environment is much more conducive to building mutual respect and acceptance than denigration of other people’s faiths and resorting to vulgarity. We cannot stress enough the importance of having these Mosque Open days as a forum for dialogue and education.

    The SAMNET 2019 National Mosque Open Day hosted over 2000 participants across six provinces with 45 Mosques registered. People of all faiths (or none), cultures and ethnicities visited the Mosques in their communities for a two hour programme. Words such as kindness, warmth, sincerity, friendliness and understanding came up frequently as feedback from participants who left the mosque with a better understanding of Islam, a sense of community and more accurate information and understanding.

    We need to keep the doors open for dialogue at all times while at the same time sparing no legal effort to ensure that our religious rights are protected and Islamophobes taken to task within the ambit of the law. We urge more Masaajids to join the SAMNET NATIONAL MOSQUE OPEN DAY campaign so that we can have a national footprint of masaajids that all people can visit and learn from.

  • 2019 National Mosque Open Day – Report

    With 45 Mosques registered, the 2019 National Mosque Open Day hosted over 2000 participants across six provinces. People of all faiths (or none), cultures and ethnicities visited the Mosques in their communities for a two hour programme.

    Participants gushed over the warm welcome they received. They were surprised to learn of the hospitable and peace-loving nature of their Muslim brothers and sisters. For many, it was their first time meeting a real Muslim and for many more, it was their first time visiting a Mosque. Words such as kindness, warmth, sincerity, friendliness and understanding came up frequently as feedback from participants. It was a day for all people of South Africa to come together within their communities and initiate or strengthen relationships built on mutual understanding.

    The South African Muslim Network would like to thank all who participated in the 2019 National Mosque Open Day and to all Mosque Representatives for their efforts and that of their teams.

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